Cluj-NapocaCluj-Napoca (ˈkluʒ naˈpoka), or simply Cluj (Kolozsvár AUDKolozsvár.oggˈkolozsvár, Klausenburg), is the second-most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade (). Located in the Someșul Mic river valley, the city is considered the unofficial capital of the historical province of Transylvania. For some decades prior to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, it was the official capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania.
IașiIași (UKˈjæʃi , USˈjɑːʃ(i) , ˈjaʃj; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy (UKˈjæsi , USˈjɑːsi ), is the third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life. The city was the capital of the Principality of Moldavia from 1564 to 1859, then of the United Principalities from 1859 to 1862, and the capital of Romania from 1916 to 1918.
İzmirİzmir (UKˈɪzmɪər , USɪzˈmɪər ; ˈizmiɾ), is a metropolitan city on the west coast of Anatolia, and capital of İzmir Province. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara, and the largest urban agglomeration on the Aegean Sea. In 2019, the city of İzmir had a population of 2,965,900, while İzmir Province had a total population of 4,367,251. Its built-up (or metro) area was home to 3,209,179 inhabitants.
Carol II of RomaniaCarol II ( 4 April 1953) was the King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, in 1914. He was the first of the Hohenzollern kings of Romania to be born in the country; both of his predecessors had been born in Germany and came to Romania only as adults. As such, he was the first member of the Romanian branch of the Hohenzollerns who spoke Romanian as his first language, and was also the first member of the royal family to be raised in the Orthodox faith.
Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991; see below), is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of roughly 5.6 million residents as of 2021. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents.
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in the Mediterranean world.
NovorossiyskNovorossiysk (Новоросси́йск, nəvərɐˈsjijsk) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: In antiquity, the shores of the Tsemes Bay were the site of Bata (Βατά), an ancient Greek colony that specialized in the grain trade. It is mentioned in the works of Strabo and Ptolemy, among others. Following brief periods of Roman and Khazar control, from the 9th century onwards, the area was part of the Byzantine θέμα Χερσῶνος Thema Khersonos (Province of Cherson).
Crimean campaignThe Crimea campaign was an eight-month-long campaign by Axis forces to conquer the Crimean Peninsula, and was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles on the Eastern Front during World War II. The German, Romanian, and defending Soviet troops suffered heavy casualties as the Axis forces tried to advance through the Isthmus of Perekop linking the Crimean peninsula to the mainland at Perekop, from summer of 1941 through to the first half of 1942.
ScythiaScythia (ˈsɪðiə, ˈsɪθiə;) or Scythica (ˈsɪðikə, ˈsɪθikə) was the Graeco-Roman name for a region of Eastern Europe corresponding to the Pontic steppe, which in antiquity was inhabited by the Scythians, who were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people. The names and are themselves Latinisations of the Ancient Greek names (Σκυθια) and (Σκυθικη), which were themselves derived from the ancient Greek names for the Scythians, Skuthēs (Σκυθης) and Skuthoi (Σκυθοι), derived from the Scythian endonym Skuδatā.
